Wicked Grace
by Medieval Fan
Summary: My take on the card game played in the Pearl. Oneshot, and rated T to be safe. F!Cousland/Alistair-ish.


Alanna ran a hand through her blond hair, making sure not to show her other filled with cards to Isabela. Her brow furrowed. By the Maker, Wicked Grace was so bloody _difficult_.

This much she knew: you must keep five cards in your hand at all times. Five only. You draw one card from the massive deck in the middle of the table when it's your turn, then examine your cards, and discard one the one you find most useless. Thus keeping only five cards in your hands at all times. However, there was many different types of cards. Symbolized on the cards were things such as serpents, griffins, songs, knights of dawn, knights of dusk and other things of the sort. Some of the cards needed a pair to be of any worth. Some were rare and were always good for any player to have.

If either player draws the angel of death card, the game is instantly over. Only one angel of death was in the entire stack, so either player must announce immediately when they've drawn it. This made the games exceptionally lengthy.

The Warden understood none of it. For her, it was random hands each time.

She figured it would have to work _sometime_. Right?

During their first hour of playing, Alanna had attempted twice to distract the duelist as she shuffled the cards. Perhaps if she was quick enough, she could manage to get the cards Isabela babbled about being so good - after each and every game, mind you - and position them in the deck to where only she'd be able to draw them. Alas, Isabela wasn't stupid. Besides, the deck had far too many cards. It proved impossible to find them.

During their second hour of playing, she suspected that the duelist was in fact cheating. She accused her of such only to be told, "Now now, keep your petty accusations to yourself." Three times she tried to smack the cards out of her hand, but the duelist was far too quick.

The game was getting rather dull by then. Still, neither of the women quit.

As they were ordering another serving of ale she noticed that Morrigan and Sten were gone. Alistair however was still present, sitting at a different table and looking quite bored. As if reading her thoughts, he got up and walked over.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"They left," he explained, "about an hour ago. Mentioned something about heading to the tavern for the night. Are you aware of how late it is?"

"You, sweet thing," Isabela said, looking directly at Alistair. "Take a seat and play a game of cards, eh? You seem much more smarter than your companion here."

"Me? _Smart_? I assure you, I don't possess that quality at all. That's why I follow her." He was pointing at the now frowning Alannah, who seemed offended by Isabela's snide comment.

"I'll take anybody over _her_," the duelist muttered, rolling her eyes. "Worst gamer ever. Besides, you might surprise yourself. If you win, I'll teach you the skills. You can tell them whoever you wish. Come, have a seat."

"All right, all right. But don't forget that I warned you."

Alanna scooted over on the bench towards the wall and he took a seat next to her. Isabela then began hastily explaining the game. Alistair just nodded as if he understood, but Alanna could tell that he didn't. At all. This was going to be a _long_ night.

And so another hour crawled by. Every once in a while he'd lean over, asking her if his hand was any good. Of course, she'd only shake her head and begin muttering about how she didn't understand the game herself.

She was sure she was nearly to the point where she wouldn't _want_ to learn about becoming a duelist.

Over time she grew tired, and the drinks were starting to have an effect on her head. She twisted in her seat, propping her feet on what room left remained on the bench, having to end up pulling her legs to her chest. She leaned back against Alistair and closed her eyes, using his shoulder as a pillow. He shifted slightly, and she knew that he was most likely blushing, but she didn't _care_.

She needed a damned pillow.

Their game talk - and Alistair's occasional jokes, slowly drifted away as she tuned them out, deep in her own thoughts. Time continued to march on. Exactly how long she didn't know, but she _knew_ it had been a while. Surely one of them would quit soon, right?

Then Alistair was nudging her in the ribs. She opened her eyes and turned her head. He was showing her his hand again.

"How long have you had that card?" she asked quietly, pointing.

"Maybe about half an hour?" he offered. Then he grinned. "Doesn't it look so special? I've been keeping it ever since in hopes of winning."

Alanna sighed, not sharing in his enthusiasm. She reached over and pulled it out of his hand, then placed it face up on the table.

"The angel of death card," she said dryly. "Your game is over, Isabela."

The duelist was clearly not amused. "You've had that card all this time?" She threw her own cards on the table, enraged. "I swear, I have never met such people, nor been so bored in my entire life. I'll need a few months to recuperate, at least!"

With that said, she was gone. Alistair hung his head down, looking guilty.

"I-I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to make her leave like that. I just thought-"

"Not your fault." Alanna smirked, glancing over the fallen cards. "Huh, would you look at that? The wench had been cheating after all. I suppose we won't be seeing her again. _Ever_." She sighed, resuming her current position and closing her eyes. "Oh well. I didn't really want to learn dueling anymore anyway."

* * *

_Author's Note: Uhh, so, I was playing Wicked Grace earlier, and it my game glitched. Whenever I picked the 'I need a rest' option, Isabela just wanted to continue playing. My dexterity was too low to catch her cheating. And Leliana wasn't around to help me. =(_

_My companions looked pretty pissed off standing in the background too. This story came to mind then. I'm not sure if this is how the Wicked Grace game is played, but I tried my best. Hope it made sense.  
_

_Reviews appreciated.  
_


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